Indian activist Wangchuk ends 26-day hunger strike over exam paper leaks

⁠Sonam ⁠Wangchuk says he ended his fast to demand education minister’s resignation ‘in view of possible violence in the ⁠country’.Indian activist Sonam Wangchuk has ended his 26-day hunger strike demanding the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over a series of examination paper leaks.In a post on X late on Thursday night, Wangchuk, 59, said he ended his fast after “a long negotiation on various conditions and in view of possible violence in the country”.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4India’s Modi promises fast-track courts for exam fraud fuelling protestslist 2 of 4‘Televising our revolution’: India’s Gen Z flips Modi’s social media gamelist 3 of 4In India, fear has switched sideslist 4 of 4Can India’s youth-led protest movement bring lasting change?end of listHe said he would describe the conditions in a separate video.Wangchuk’s announcement came shortly after Prime Minister Narendra Modi released a video address on X, saying he will bring a tougher law to check paper leaks.Modi said the government was working on measures to fast-track court proceedings against those involved in the leaks and that the issue would be discussed by the cabinet on Friday.In his video address, Modi called the leaks a “matter of great pain” for hundreds of thousands of students, without mentioning Pradhan.The activist had been on a hunger strike since June 28 in solidarity with India’s youth-led Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) that is demanding Pradhan’s resignation over medical college entrance test paper leaks, which forced millions to retake the exam.Meanwhile, thousands of pro-CJP protesters continue to rally at New Delhi’s Jantar Mantar protest site and cities across the country in one of the biggest challenges for Modi since his 2024 re-election for a third term.The Jantar Mantar site has seen bouts of unrest and violence this week. On Monday, the protests snowballed after police fired tear gas and baton-charged demonstrators as they tried to march to parliament.